Alabama Beats LSU: Making the Case for a Split National Championship

The dust has settled on the “rematch of the history,” and after all the hype, all the bonus coverage of buses on dark roads and all the gnashing of teeth regarding an all-SEC national title game, Alabama has won the actual contest by whipping LSU, 21-0.

Yes, the Crimson Tide are the BCS victors and, under the current system we live by, the rightful owners of the coveted crystal football, but what does their win and championship mean for the “other” one-loss teams in the nation?

Indeed, what of LSU’s now 13-1 mark, and yes, what about Oklahoma’s 12-1 finish?

Though we all know the answer to the BCS question (the winner of the championship game wins the championship hardware), does Alabama’s 12-1 record mean that it deserves to be declared the sole holder of the 2011-12 national title?

The fairest way to answer that question might be to present a straight-up statistical comparison.

The now-BCS-champion Crimson Tide are 12-1, with their only loss coming at home to then-No. 1 LSU by three points in overtime.

Alabama faced six ranked teams in 2011 (they beat five), met two teams ranked in the Top 5 (both via their meetings with LSU) and overall they played seven teams (including counting LSU twice) who finished the 2011 season with a winning record.

The Crimson Tide hold no divisional or conference titles this season to go along with their BCS national championship.

Runner-up LSU is 13-1 with their only loss coming at a pre determined “neutral” site to No. 2 LSU by 21 points in the BCS national title game.

LSU faced nine ranked teams in 2011 (they beat eight), met four teams in the Top 5 (including playing LSU twice) and overall they played 10 teams who finished the 2011 season with a winning record.

The Tigers won both the SEC West divisional crown and are the reigning SEC conference champions.

Fiesta Bowl champion Oklahoma State is 12-1 with their only loss coming on the road to unranked Iowa State by six-points in double overtime.

The Cowboys faced five ranked teams in 2011 (they beat all five), met only one team in the Top 5 (Stanford) and overall they played nine teams that finished the 2011 season with a winning record.

Oklahoma State is the reigning champion of the Big 12 conference.

It’s far too simple to state that based on the sheer numbers and despite the staggering loss that LSU is still the No. 1 team in nation and then Oklahoma State and Alabama are a toss-up for No. 2 and No. 3 based on who they played vs. who they lost to.

But it does make it very easy to argue a split championship with several different slicing variations.

Yes, does LSU split the title with Alabama (they each won one game in the series) or does Oklahoma State split a three-way with the Tigers and Tide?

We all know that the one and only way a championship will be split for this season is if the AP voters are persuaded to vote either LSU or Oklahoma State ahead of Alabama by virtue of believing that either are truly the best team in the country.

And if you think this can’t happen in the BCS scheme think back to 2003 when 13-1 LSU won the BCS crown while 12-1 USC was awarded the championship by the AP.

What all this obviously means is that the only way to truly determine an uncontested national champion is to have the AP and BCS join forces in a fully sanctioned national championship scheme.

But, until that blessed day arrives what about years that play out like 2011-12 has?

Yes, what about three one-loss teams (two have each beat each other once) with logically drawn up resumes that stack them up differently than a flawed BCS system does?

Can teams that didn’t even win their conference or divisional title hold the national championship?

Can a national title truly be decided by a game whose participants were casted by a computer program combined with human voters?

Who is truly the best team in college football in 2011-12?